Jersey is a British Crown Dependency located in the Channel Islands, a group of islands located near to the coast of French Normandy. It is the largest of the Channel Islands and the port of Saint Helier is also the largest port of all the islands. However, when regarding their close proximity to France, at first glance it would seem surprising to find that they are not under the dominion of France rather than Britain. The reason for this is that these islands have a long and complex maritime history that has been shaped by their relatively vulnerable location to foreign influences. Through history they have been subject to a number of different rulers and played an important role in historical conflicts between England and France, as well as those between England, Ireland and Scotland.

It has been estimated that about 25,000 years ago the islands were once part of continental Europe, before rising sea levels, caused by the ending of the ice age, cut them off from the mainland (of what is modern France). One of the first evidences of human activity on the islands can be found from the times of Ancient Armorica, from which many Armorican coins have been found - Armorica was an area that spanned most of modern French Brittany and Normandy. During the 6th century, Christianity was introduced to the islands and Jersey was evangelised by Saint Helier. Other Christian Missionaries such as Magliore, Marculf and Samson of Dol also arrived on the islands. Later, in the 9th century, the coast was raided by Norse settlers and many of the islands' modern place names can be traced back to the Norse era.

A more famous historical era in the Jersey and the rest of the Channel Islands' history was the Norman Conquest. After the islands had been annexed in 933 by the Duchy of Normandy, William the Conqueror - William II of Normandy invaded the island and the whole of England, maintaining control for almost 140 years.

After that point, the islands became under control of the Crown but during the next few hundred years there had been attempts by the French to seize control over the islands again. These invasions were only temporarily successful and on the whole the islands have remained an English Crown dependency (referred to as a British Crown Dependency in the modern era) ever since.

In the 17th century, between 1639 and 1651, a famous series of wars took place between England, Ireland and Scotland (known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms). Whereas Guernsey's loyalties lay with the parliamentary cause, Jersey supported the Royalist cause and it was here that Charles, the Prince of Wales (Charles II) was provided protection in 1646 and again between 1649 and 1650.

During the expansion of the British Empire the islands developed strong political and commercial interests in the New World (the colonies of North America). Jersey islanders worked at the fisheries of the coast of Newfoundland (an area in present day Canada) and Charles II, as a token of his appreciation for the refuge he was provided in Jersey during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, granted George Carteret, the bailiff and governor, a large area of land which was soon to be named New Jersey – what is now a US state to the south and east of New York City.

After the loss of the American colonies and the gradual decline of the British Empire from the 20th century, Jersey began to lose its political and mercantile importance. Later, a key event in the island's history - perhaps the darkest of Jersey's history, was the German occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II. The only territory of the British Commonwealth to face Nazi occupation, many Jersey islanders (and other islanders on the Channel Islands) were deported and subjected to brutal treatment in concentration camps. Before the Nazi troops arrived, there was a substantial evacuation effort but only 6,600 out of a population of 50,000 left Jersey. During the occupation, a large number of Russian and Eastern Europeans were brought to Jersey and the other Channel Islands and became slaves for building forts. The islands of Jersey and Guernsey were finally liberated by the British on May 9th 1945, the day after VE day (on the island of Alderney, the Nazis did not surrender until May 16th). Hitler's death and the allied war effort led to the disintegration of the Nazi state and eventually the end of the worst conflict in human history. Undoubtedly, this is one area of Jersey's history (and all of the Channel Islands) that has never been forgotten. Even decades later, many of the German forts remain on the island, as a stark reminder of the brutality and suffering that had once taken place here. It is estimated that many hundreds of people had died on the Channel Islands in the concentration camps, although the true numbers will never be known due to the fact that the Nazis destroyed many historical documents during the war.

After World War II, as the evacuees returned to their homes following the liberation, Jersey sought to regenerate its local economy through tourism and immigration. Today, about one million visit the island every year, predominantly for its beautiful beaches, its turquoise seas and the fact that the island enjoys more sunshine than any region on mainland Britain. The culture of the islands is shaped by its history: the language of the Normans was widely spoken until the nineteenth century, until the industrial revolution led to increasing Anglicisation. Throughout Jersey there are a number of French place names such as Carrefour Selous and Grouville, which symbolises the Norman influences on the island and its close proximity to the French land mass. From Jersey's east coast, France's Normandy can be seen when there is good visibility.

Neither Jersey nor any of the other Channel Islands belong to the United Kingdom or the European Union, however, they remain British Crown Dependencies. This is reflected upon the fact that the islands have their own government and are not officially represented in British Parliament although they still share the same political system and democracy as the United Kingdom.